Mistakes of the Past
by alannapurple
Summary: This story sux, don't read it unless you really really want to. I wrote it, and dod gammit im gonna post it!!!! read if you want, review if you read, FLAMES ACCEPTED AND APRECIATED! Thank You RaWcK oN
1. Default Chapter

{a/n Okay, yes, this story was posted before, but  I took it down because I wanted to revamp it a little bit. Yes, the chapters are longer, better, and with fewer spelling/word errors. Note I said _fewer_. There probably are some still, but the part in the next chapter will say 'smiled' in stead of just smile. Thank you.}

Mistakes of the Past: Chapter 1

Welcoming 

The red haired girl had been sleeping on her suitcase since at least 5:00 A.M., when the train station opened. She was a little on the short side, and pretty thin, but not quite anorexic like. She was positioned right between the 9th and 10th gates.

At around 10:00 a boy woke her up. It's a very startling thing to be woken up by someone staring at you straight in the face, and the girl nearly screamed. The boy, who had dark hair and shining blue eyes, laughed slightly.

"James, I'm going to kill you!" the girl said with clenched teeth. She hit him in the arm, playfully. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are, Casey. I hope." James said with a grin. "I'm going to school here."

"You're mom actually let you come here?" Casey's eyes were wide. "That's so... shocking."

"Enough, Casey. I had originally thought that she was going to try to keep us apart. Didn't you say you were going to Salem?" James asked.

"Right, me, give up an opportunity to leave the country. Are you insane? Come on, I think we're allowed to get on the platform now." Casey got up, looked around, and walked through the bars between the two gates, with James following her.

The train wasn't there yet, but they were an hour early. They weren't the only ones, either. It was mostly families with young children that were there; kids who were starting their first year and were very attached to their parents. James and Casey sat down on the bench near the gate. Casey found a newspaper. On the cover was a picture of Sirius Black, with a headline that said, "Black still on the loose."

"Wow, they still haven't caught him?" Casey said, reading the article. "What's so hard?" The second comment was directed to one of the gate attendants.

He just shrugged. "You two are new in town, aren't you?" They both nodded. "You hear about what happened last year? He broke into the school. They caught him, and then he slipped through their fingers." He shook his head. "It's a shame to our government when they can't keep someone caught."

"Yes, well," another man said, "there haven't been any reports of some psycho killing anyone." Everyone that heard laughed, except for James. He just looked a bit thoughtful. "What are your names?"

"I'm Cassandra Davy, Casey for short," Casey told him with a smile. He smiled back.

"James," was all that James told him.

"What, no last name?" the man asked him, while Casey gave him a strange look.

"Conner." Just then the train rolled in. James and Casey hurried aboard with their belongings.

"James what the hell was that?" Casey asked when they were aboard. "Are you okay? You look a little angry."

"Casey, shut up or I'll make you shut up."

"Aw, does someone need a nap? Must be that whole jet lag, time change thing. Makes everyone cranky." Casey was joking, but with a frown on her face. James just glared. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

Eventually a group of three people wandered in, and sat down across from them. It was a red-haired boy, and black-haired boy and a brunette girl. The black haired boy pulled out a piece of parchment and they began to read it, huddled around. James and Casey decided to ignore the new group, since the group seemed to be ignoring them.

"So, James, really, why did your mom send you here? You obviously don't think it's safe here." 

"How is it 'obvious'?" James said, with curiosity.

"You seem to be getting angry a lot more than you do at home. And you do seem to be in more danger than say, me." Casey gave a face of "you know I have a point there".

James just rolled his eyes. "You've been talking to me for less than a half an hour, how can you tell I'm angry a lot more?"

"James, I see you like 24-7. We live next door to each other." She looked across the compartment and saw that the other group was looking at them. "Yes?" she asked them. "What do you want?" The other kids just glanced at each other. "Oh, I see. You must all be mute." She looked at James. "Or foreign. They speak English here right?"

"We understand you," the messy, dark-haired boy said, finally.

"Barely," the other boy put in.

"Well, whatever. My name's Casey Davy. This," she pointed to James, "is James Black."

James glared and Casey, but she just ignored him. It was fun for her, at least.

"Nice to meet you," the girl told them. "I'm Hermione Granger. That," she pointed to the tall red-head, "is Ron Weasley."

 "I'm Harry Potter," the other boy told them.

Part of Casey's mind said _Oh really_, while the other part was cracking up at an old joke between her and James. The joke was that early last year, in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, James had made a joke about their learning about Lord Voldemort. He had asked the teacher why they had to learn about "a European nutcase while in America." Their teacher had not been pleased, but it was still something to laugh about. Casey later told him that he was a "European nutcase" being that he was born in Europe.

Back on the train, Harry and co. were looking at them like they were crazy as they tried not to laugh out loud. "Sorry," Casey said with a smile, "inside joke."

"You're not from around here, are you," Ron asked suspiciously.

"Like, duh," Casey told him, doing her best valley girl impersonation.

Ron looked around. "Can I have a translator please? Somebody? Anybody?" 

Exasperated, Casey through her hands up in the air. "I'm speaking English!" she exclaimed.

"No, I'm speaking English," Ron said, tapping his lips. "You're speaking something else."

"James, we speak English in 'Frisco, right? Or do we speak American?" Casey asked thoughtfully.

James shrugged and rubbed his temples. "Yes, we speak English. Stop yelling you're giving me a headache."

"So you're from America? Where in?" Hermione asked, cordially. She smiled.

"Yeah, California. San Francisco, actually." James responded. "And I assume you can understand me?" he asked Ron, dryly. Ron only shrugged.

"Why are you going to Hogwarts then?" Harry asked. "I mean, London is a long way from California, if I'm correct."

"Our old school stopped being a school. Something about the owners. Casey, you would know something about that, wouldn't you?" James asked her. "Casey's mom was the co-owner of the school. Helped found it, I believe."

"James, why the hell would my mom tell me something like that? It's not like she actually talks to me about the past like your mom does."

"Casey, if you do not shut up I will hit you," James said through clenched teeth.

"And he hits hard, too," a little girl said from the doorway. She grinned and ran off in the direction she came in.

"Lilly, I'll kill you!" James screamed in her direction.

"That was his sister," Casey explained. "Isn't she cute?" Harry, Ron and Hermione smiled. James glared. "If you keep doing that, your face will freeze in that expression."

"You know, my mom keeps telling me that."

"Maybe you should listen to her." 

"You keep talking about stuff we don't know about. Either stop or fill us in, because this is very interesting," Hermione was saying. "You two act like an old married couple."

Casey laughed. "We've know each other since we were born. Our mother's are friends. They were teachers at our old school, also."

"Really? I would be devastated if my mom was a teacher. What did they teach?" Hermione asked. Casey noticed she seemed to be doing most of the talking.

"My mom taught Defense Against the Dark Arts and Mrs. Davy taught Potions." A shiver passed through the other group of kids.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked.

"The potions teacher here is really nasty." Harry said simply. "Almost evil."

"That's too bad, I like potions." Casey looked disappointed.

"Well, actually, he's nice to the Slytherins. That reminds me, what houses are you guys in?" Ron asked them.

"My mom talked to the headmaster, and I guess James's did too," Casey said, looking at James. He nodded. "And they said to see them and be sorted before everyone else so that we don't have to be embarrassed, because we're so much older than the first years"

"That makes sense," Hermione agreed. James nodded.

"Oh, my mom also told me that a few other students had been accepted, like, um, Britlynne and Megan and Jassa. Britt's our age," Casey told the others, "and the other two are third year twins. And," she turned to James, "'Rus made it, too!"

"Oh dear god help us all," James muttered, "I get to be beaten to death by you, Lilly and your brother."

"I heard that. He's going to get to be sorted with everyone else; he's a first year." 

"How cute, I always wished I had a brother," Hermione said.

"No, you don't" Ron and James said at the same time. They looked at each other, then looked away.

They talked for the rest of the train ride, getting to know about each other. It seemed to go by pretty quickly. When they arrived at the castle, Casey, James, Lilly, Britt, Megan and Jassa were separated from the main group and taken to a separate room to be sorted. Britt was the only one who was really nervous. James was first sorted, and he went to Gryffindor. So did Lilly, Casey, and Britt. Megan went to Ravenclaw and Jassa to Slytherin. They made it back to the Great Hall in time to watch the first years get sorted. 

Casey sat next to Hermione at the table during the sorting. When her brother's name was called out, "Severus Davy!" she looked up at the teacher's table and saw that one of the teachers was looking at the little boy with a look that screamed hatred.

"Who's that?" she asked Hermione, pointing to the teacher.

"Severus Snape, the Potions teacher. Beware."

Casey nodded. "Well, I'll tell 'Rus to be careful around him. Though I doubt he'll listen. The only person he'll take warning from is our mom, and then only sometimes." She shrugged. "Whatever."

After the dinner (which Casey described as "English, but tasty"), Headmaster Dumbledore stood up to make a few announcements.

"As all of our returning students remember, at the end of last year we were down a DADA teacher. And now, technically, we still are." He smiled at the sea of confused looking faces. "We have hired a knew teacher, unfortunately, she will not be here until tomorrow morning." Everyone looked relived. "You will all meet her then. Now, to bed! You all have classes tomorrow, I believe."

Casey had trouble sleeping that night. She was afraid of something here; a bad feeling crept over her in the quiet dark. "Don't be silly," she whispered to herself, "Mom grew up here, and she survived. I can too." After much tossing and turning, she finally fell asleep.

During breakfast, they all got their schedules. The fourth years had Potions first, then DADA.

"Good," Britt said, "We get to be one of the first ones to meet the new teacher."

"Potions first is nothing to be excited about, you guys," Harry told her. "Professor Snape is a menace." 

"Are you afraid of a teacher, Harry?" James asked him.

"No, I've just had some rather _unpleasant_ experiences with him the last three years."

"Can we please change the subject?" a boy names Neville asked. He was very much so afraid of Snape.

"Sure. When are Quidditch tryouts? I'm interested in playing," Casey told them all.

"In a few weeks, but there are no empty positions," Harry told her.

"We'll see about that," Casey challenged. "Who's the captain for Gryffindor?"

"My older brothers, George and Fred. They're twins, and the team Beaters," Ron answered. He pointed them out at the other end of the table. "I guess you can talk to them later," he said as the bell ending breakfast rang. "Come on."

In Potions, they had a review test on something they had learned the year before. They only one who had visible trouble was Neville, but not a lot of trouble. The California students had no trouble at all.

When they walked into the DADA classroom, the teacher was not there yet. This worried some of the students that the teacher was not even at school yet. But they did not have to wait long. Soon, a youngish woman with curly brown hair entered. The California students recognized her right away. It was James' mom.

{a/n Okay, now that you read the new and improved chapter, why don't you tell me what you thought was so much better about it?}


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning everyone. I'm sorry for the delay. My name is Bethany Conner. I'll be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts. James, stop that it's not becoming of you," she told everyone.

James had been gaping at her. He shut his mouth, turned a bit pink and said, "Yes, ma'am." Everyone laughed.

"Thanks. Would anyone care to tell me what you all studied last year? I was not given very precise notes." She asked. Hermione's hand shot up, almost hitting Ron, who was sitting right next to her. "Yes?" Bethany asked her.

"We studied Boggarts, grindylows, red caps and hinkypunks," she answered.

"And werewolves!" a voice called out from the back of the classroom.

"Yes, yes. I heard about that unfortunate experience with Professor Lupin," Bethany responded.

"He was the best DADA teacher we've ever had!" another voice shouted. There were several murmurs of agreement following.

Bethany only smiled. "Well than, I'll have to work extra hard to please you." She turned to Hermione. "And your name was?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Thank you. Five points to Gryffindor for you being so helpful." Bethany made a note on her desk while the rest of the class grinned at Hermione. "Today we are going to start our unit on..." she flipped through her notes, "...vampires. Now, can anyone tell me some legends they know about vampires?"

After class, everyone started filling out for lunch. Harry stopped to ask Bethany a question. "Professor Conner? How did you know James?"

James heard, as he was gathering his stuff. He shot his mom a warning look but she didn't seem to see it. Or she chose to ignore it. "I'm his mother."

"Oh. How did you know about Lupin, then, if you were in California?"

"From Professor Lupin himself. He's an old friend of mine. We went to school here together," she answered, gathering her notes and papers up. She sat down to get something off the floor.

"If you knew him, did you know Sirius Black?" Harry asked, almost anxiously.

Bethany looked up at him so suddenly she nearly fell of her chair. Her face was very pale. "Don't you have somewhere else you need to be going, Harry?"

Harry understood she wasn't going to answer his question, so he left.

James hurried to the front of the room. "Are you okay, mom?"

Bethany just sighed and motioned for him to go on. He ran out to catch up with his friends. They had lunch then. James was the first to start complaining.

"It's not fair. She's my mom."

"James, come on. She taught at out old school. And it's not like she's favoring you or anything," Casey scolded.

"I know, but Hogwarts is a _lot _bigger than CASSANDRA W., if you didn't notice," James retorted.

"What was that name again?" one of the others at their table asked. "Was that your old school?"

"Yeah," Casey said, "it stands for the C.A.S Southern Academy for..." she paused. "Wait a minute, I know this..."

"For Native and Distinguished Researching Adolescents of Wizardry," James finished for her.

"Thanks," she told him. "I think the initials in the beginning are that of the founder. No one every told us what they were for."

"I think I read about that school in one of my books, but it didn't say what they were for either," Hermione said. "But the founder is a good guess."

"Anyway," James was saying, going back to his complaints, "it would be like your mom taking over for Professor Snape."

 "Wouldn't that be a shame," a girl at the table said sarcastically.

"Oh, would she?" another asked at the same time. "I hate Snape."

"I don't know what you guys are complaining about. Some of the stuff we went over in class today I learned in my second year."

"The very end of the second year, after the exams. Professor Davy was giving a preview of what we were going to be doing the next year." Britt told everyone.

"You spoil my fun, Britt," Casey said with mock annoyance.

"That's what friends are for, Casey." Britt laughed, and so did those who were listening.

Mail came the next morning at breakfast. An owl came over to Casey, holding two letters out for her to take. They both had her name on it. After she took them, the owl flew away quickly, without waiting for her to pet it or give in table scraps.

"What an impatient owl," Ron commented.

"It's my mom's," was all Casey would say. "Oh, look, I got a letter from my dad! He must have sent it to mom thinking I would still be at home." When James looked at her curiously, she said, "Mom forgot to tell him I was going here. I think she thought he wouldn't like the idea." She tore open the letter and started reading it out loud. "'Dearest Casey,' oh please, he never calls me that. He never calls mom that. He must have done something wrong. 'I am going to tell you this first because I don't want you to feel like your being left out on decisions...'" her voice trailed off as she read the rest silently. Her breath started to a little faster, and she started to get angry. She started ripping up the letter.

"Casey! What's wrong?" James asked her, clearly worried.

She had started crying, slightly. She sniffed, quietly. "They're getting divorced. At least he is. He said he was telling me first which is bullshit, because he wouldn't be making this kind of decision on his own. Damn it! She knew, and she let him tell me!" She looked down at the shredded later.

"Casey, you still got one from your mom, maybe she was telling you," Britt said. "Open it."

"I meant she would have told me that they were talking about it." She sounded like she was calming down, however. She read the other letter, this time to herself. She shook her head. "It doesn't even mention it at all. Only that he might not be coming back from Greece until after Christmas. Yeah, way after Christmas. Like, maybe never." Her voice was bitter. Britt and everyone looked concerned. "I didn't like my dad anyway," she told them, as she got up and left, leaving everyone a little bit upset for her.

Meanwhile, Bethany and Snape were having their own little battles. All the students remembered the way Snape had been nasty to Lupin. It seemed to them that he hated Bethany even more. One day, Snape purposely blocked Bethany's way in the hall. She managed to push her way through (she's pretty thin) and then elbowed him in the back so hard that he nearly fell over. After that, he looked back at her, his face filled with loathing. In return, she did something almost crazy. She smiled.   

School had been in for about three weeks when the reports came. They took everyone by surprise. Sirius Black had been sited, not too far away from the school. There was no doubt on anyone's mind that he was coming back, but the reason... Well, no one had a clue. But Bethany, she had a fear, one that had been living in the back of her mind for years. She kept it hidden, but she would jump at the mention of his name, and was paler then usual on most days.

There were rumors among the students that he was coming back to kill Harry, to finish the job he had missed before. They wondered whether or not Dumbledore would bring back the dementors. Many of the rules from the year before went back into effect; students were not allowed outside alone, and many teachers talked about canceling the next Hogsmead trip, which did upset many students.

 James had been walking around the common room a few nights after the reports came, and he heard Harry and Ron talking, slightly hidden from the rest of the students behind the table and chairs. They were whispering about something, or someone.

"Did you get a letter from him recently? Surely he would have told you..." That was Ron's voice.

"No, he didn't. Maybe it was something in the last letter I sent him." Harry responded.

"What did you say in the letter? I mean, there hasn't been anything bad happen lately that would worry him." Ron asked.

"I just told him about the new teacher and the students from the U.S.A."

James walked over to them. "Who are you talking about?" He knew he sounded like he was snooping, but he was thinking about all he'd heard last year about Sirius Black.

"My godfather," Harry said. "No one special."

"Oh. Then why all the secrecy?" Besides being hidden, the two boys had their backs to the rest of the room, as though they were trying to discourage people from bothering them.

Harry just shrugged, but he had guilt in his face. He thought for a moment, then motioned for him to come closer and sit down. "Sirius Black," he whispered.

James' eyes went wide. "Are you insane? He's a murderer," He hissed. "And he helped killed your parents, Harry, if you didn't know."

"He's innocent, James. It wasn't him," Harry responded.

"Wait, how did you hear about that?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"My mom told me. She was a good friend of your parents."

 "What about your dad?" Ron asked, almost eager for information.

"He died, a long time ago," James told them. "I don't want to talk about it." Ron and Harry glanced at each other.

"Listen, James, trust me. Sirius didn't kill all those people. It was Pettigrew. He faked his own death. We know, we saw him ourselves." Harry explained.

"And why is it that you think I should believe you? I barely know you." James was fighting to keep his voice down.

"Fine. Don't believe me. Go ahead." Harry told him. James stood up and went to tell Casey what he heard.

She was sitting at a table with Lavender Brown, Britt and Hermione. They were talking.

"...I've seen the way you've been looking at him recently, Hermione," Casey was saying.

"Oh, I know. But then again, _everyone_ knows that she like him. Everyone but Ron, that is," Lavender said.

Hermione blushed, but didn't say anything against it. Instead she said, "Well, I've noticed how much time you've been spending with James. Is there something between the two of you?" James heard, and carefully hid himself were he could still here. He was very interested in this answer.

"Oh, no, we're just good friends. Don't look at me like that, I'm serious. My dad," she paused, unsure how to continue, but she just went straight on, "he's away a lot, so my mom would spend a lot of time with Bethany, err, Professor Conner. James' mom. They're really good friends, so I became friends with James. He's like a brother to me, almost."

"And he's a lot nicer than 'Rus," Britt put in. 

"You only think that because 'Rus puked on you that one time," Casey retorted. Everyone laughed.

Britt nodded. "It did put a strain on our relationship. You haven't told him yet, have you?" She said, abruptly changing the subject.

"No, I won't. If they want him to know, they will tell him. The letter was addressed to me, making it all my business. He's not ready to hear it, I don't think."

"Casey, I don't think anyone can be ready to hear that kind of news, at least no the way you did," Lavender said. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, can we just please change the subject?" Casey asked.

"Do you think that the teachers will cancel the next Hogsmead trip like they're talking about? It's the one right before Halloween," Lavender said, changing the subject for Casey.

"I hope they don't. Then we won't be able to get weird toys to play with," James said, butting in.

"What's with you boys and weird toys?" Britt asked. "You're all obsessed."

"I was just lightening the situation," he told them.

"No, you were spying on us," Casey told him, "weren't you?"

"No, I came over here to ask you something, but I think I've changed my mind." He got up and went to the boy's dormitory.

"What's his problem?" Casey asked Britt and Lavender.

They just shrugged. "Maybe he really likes you, but he heard what you said and now he's all sad and stuff," Lavender teased.

Casey rolled her eyes. "Yah, right. All boys are weird like that at this age. My mom told me so." The other two girls laughed, and they soon forgot about James' strange behavior.

While the students were making jokes about the seriousness of the Sirius Black mater, Bethany was dreaming. Her dreams were very strange, because they were all of things that had already happened, most of them at the school. The castle, she believed, was haunted by memories. 

The night after Casey had told Britt she didn't like James, Bethany had one such dream...

~*~

She was coming down the stairs from the girl's dorm. She had decided to go wild with her hair that day. She had put it in eight little braids, and had put a dye spell on them. Four of the braids were bright red, the other four gold. They were the Gryffindor colors.

_"Bethany, what did you do to your _hair_?" Nick exclaimed when she got down._

_"Shut up, Nicholai." While it seemed really mean to tease him now, Bethany didn't hesitate to yell at him or ignore him when she was busy._

_"But it looks ridiculous," he protested._

_"I do not!" she exclaimed. She looked around the room. "Where's Sirius?"_

_"Detention," Janna said quietly, not looking up from her book._

_"Oops. I forgot." She turned to James Potter, who was doing his homework. "How's you arm?"_

_"Sore but fine. Thanks for asking," he responded. "Good thing it was my right arm, right?" He smiled, but no one else did._

_"I'm sorry," Bethany told him, sitting down at the same table._

_"It's not your fault."_

_"Yes, it is," Bethany, Lily, Janna, and Nick said together._

_"Okay, yes, it was, but I forgive you. And you look fine, Nick's just being an ass."_

_"Leave Nick alone, James. He's just immature. Like you," Lily said. James frowned, and Bethany laughed._

_"Do you know where Chevielle is, then?" Bethany asked._

_"Most likely doing her work in the Library with Gregory," Janna said with a hint of disgust. "It seems like those two are joined at the hip sometimes. And I like your hair, it looks cool."_

~*~

Bethany woke, gasping, with Janna's words ringing in her ears.


	3. Chapter 3

{A/N: I'm really sorry about not updating this chap sooner. I kinda forgot I had it..... oops. Sorry.}

~*~*~*~*~

There was a ghost on the edge of her bed when Bethany woke up. It was the ghost of a boy, around ten years old.

"Jon?" she asked in a whisper.

He nodded. "I missed you," he whispered back.

Bethany blinked back tears. "I missed you, too. But what are you doing here?"

The ghost shrugged. "I wanted to see you."

Bethany nodded. "Why?" she asked.

The ghost just shook his head. "You dream loudly," he told her. "I could see it."

"You could see my dreams?" she asked. "How?"

He shook his head again. "I cannot explain it to you. You wouldn't understand. Go back to sleep, Bethy. It does no good to dwell on dreams." He turned away as though to leave.

"Wait! Jon!" The ghost turned back. "Come to see me again, please?" He nodded, and drifted out the door. Bethany fell back asleep.

The Hogsmead trip before Halloween was cancelled, and the next one wasn't until the week before Christmas Break started. There were no attacks from Sirius Black, and the overall feeling was that whoever had spotted him had gotten in wrong somehow.

The students who were allowed to go to the village were very glad to be able to get of doors for the day, without the safety restrictions. James and Casey were around together, looking in the shops, and buying presents for everyone, when Casey noticed something.

"Hey, James, isn't that your sister?" she asked, pointing.

The both ran outside, where it was lightly snowing. It was Lilly. James grabbed her by the arm. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" he demanded. "You have to be in your third year!"

Lilly tried to twist out of her brother's grip. "Mom talked to Dumbledore. Ow! He said it was okay. James that hurts!" He was squeezing her arm. "She's here, go find her and ask her."

James looked around, and saw his mom entering the Three Broomsticks. He released his sister's arm. Lilly ran off towards her.

"What should we do now?" Casey asked James. "I bought all the gifts I need and I don't really want to go back to school yet."

"Me neither. Didn't your mom write you saying she was going to be staying here over the break?" Casey nodded. "Where was she going to be staying?"

"Ashley Heights, the Inn. I'm not sure if she's here yet, but we could go check," Casey responded.

The Inn was in the back of the village. When they got there, Casey asked if there was a Chevielle Davy checked in. The man at the desk shook his head. They left.

"I told you she wouldn't be there," Casey told James.

"Did you see the way he looked at you when you asked him?" Casey shook her head. "It was like, I don't know, you were asking if a person who wasn't even going to be staying there had checked in."

"Oh, yeah, I kind of noticed that." 

"Do you think she would have changed her last name back to her maiden name now that she's getting divorced?" James asked.

"I never thought of that. I don't even know what her maiden name is," Casey pointed out. "It's snowing harder, let's go back to school. I was going to practice tonight with Britt."

They got back to school just in time for dinner. Afterwards, Casey, Britt, James and Harry went out to the Quidditch fields. After the tryouts, Casey and Harry had been chosen to be alternating seekers. Britt was keeper. James was there because he liked to watch them practice. 

"Why do we need to practice before break?" Britt asked Casey.

"So we can get better," Harry told her, "and so we don't lose again like we lost last time." The last game had been against Slytherin, and Britt had been knocked out, so the other team kept scoring points. Harry had caught the snitch, but they had still lost.

"That wasn't my fault!" Britt protested. "He ran me into the goal post!"

"That's enough, you two," Casey said with a smile. "Let's practice."   

Before anyone took flight, however, they heard something coming from the forest.

"What was that?" Britt said, eyes wide.

James shrugged, and looked at Harry. He shrugged also. They didn't have to wonder for long, because a large black dog suddenly came out from the trees. It stared right at Britt, in what could have been a hungry way.

It stepped forward, to get a better look. Britt froze in place. Casey pulled out her wand, and lit it up, straight in the dog's face. It growled, and turned its attention on her. She gulped, but stood strong. There was another bit of rustling of the trees. Everyone, including the dog, turned and looked.

Another creature emerged. This time it was a unicorn, but a dazzling gold one. Britt, who had been able to move once the dog had turned its attention away from her, gasped at the sight. The sight also startled the dog. It backed into the forest. When it was out of sight, the unicorn to left the field.

 Britt let out a huge sigh of relief. "What was that thing?" she asked the others. James and Casey told her they didn't know, but Harry just looked confused about something.

~*~*~

Bethany had another dream that night, this one much, much more frightening.

~*~

She was a sixth year this time, and it was during the break. The eight of them were in the dungeons; no one else was around. They were in a circle. Clockwise, the circle went Bethany, Sirius, Janna, Severus Snape, Chevielle, Gregory, Lily, and James Potter. In front of Greg was an old, worn book, with no label on either the front or the spine, and the cover page simply read "Spells". In was floating in the air, for each person had one inward facing slash on each of his or her palms.

_"...As one we bleed, together, we flow towards death..." Greg was saying. Lily was deathly pale, and frightened. Bethany saw that her eyes glistened with tears._

_She shouldn't be here, Bethany thought. We should not of made her come, someone else could have come in her place._

_Greg bowed his head, giving an unspoken sign. Everyone clasped hands with the people standing directly beside them. Bethany felt a power running threw her as her blood mixed, both physically and magically, with the seven other people._

_The power felt dark and thick, and she felt sick, like she was committing herself to something unholy, but at the same time, she felt goodness flowing inside her, and she felt pure. _

_"...With blood our lives become one, like our blood, we our now a circle, a chain broken only by death, and by blood. We shatter innocence with a cut and a bond and only by innocence can we be unbroken!" Greg screamed the last few words. A dark red/purple mist, like the color of old, dried blood, filled the room, seeming to come from their very wounds. Bethany was afraid to breath in, that the mist would enter her, and contaminate her very life. _

_The room was cold, and her hands were numb. She no longer felt the connection between her hands, and Sirius' and James'. She breathed in. The mist had a taste, it made her gasp for more air, her chest clenched and she felt faint. She felt more than heard others in the circle do the same. She dimly felt Sirius squeeze her hand in comfort, but all that came through was more pain. The cuts on her hand stung, but then suddenly, they didn't. The mist started to clear. Beside her, Lily screamed..._

~*~

Bethany screamed when she awoke. Her eyelids were still heavy, and her chest hurt as though she had been left without air for a long period of time. She sat up in her bed and looked around. She was safe in her room in the castle, and she was alone. She looked down and nearly screamed again. The scars on her palms that had been left from that night were once again dripping with blood.

~*~*~

Lilly Black woke up in the middle of the night. She didn't know why she had suddenly awoken, she hadn't been dreaming or anything. It was just like all of a sudden she wasn't tired anymore. She strained her ears for sounds, and found some. She got out of bed, and went down into the Common Room, where she found a few other people.

Hermione, Ron, Harry, James, Casey and Brittlynne were all talking. Hermione had a book with her, and it was a really large book, too.

"Okay, I have an idea about that thing we saw tonight," Hermione said, picking the book up.

"Wait," James said, cutting her off. "Lilly, what are you doing?" he asked his sister, whom he saw in the shadows.

"I couldn't sleep, and I heard you guys talking."

"Go back to bed," he told her sternly.

"James, be nice," Casey scolded. "Why don't we go up to the tower so that we don't wake any one else up," she suggested. People nodded, and they climbed up the stairs.

At the top of the tower was an ill-used room. The furniture all had sheets over it, like you would expect in an attic. It was very cold, because the window was broken, and then boarded up incompletely. No one, however, was interested in starting a fire. So they sat down at one of the tables (the one that had the least amount of dust) and let Hermione continue.

"Well, I was thinking about how it couldn't have been a real unicorn because those are silver and what you saw was gold, right?" Everyone but Lilly nodded, because she hadn't heard about what had happened. "So, since it was a real _thing_, it could have been an animagus. This," she pointed to the large book, "it the register."

"What happens if it's not in the register?" Ron asked.

"Well, we won't know until we look, will we?" Casey told him. He frowned.

Hermione opened the book and flipped through it until she got to the back, where the most recent ones were. "Oh!" she exclaimed, "It's in here!"

"Really?" Harry asked. Everyone crowded around the book, including Lilly.

"Yeah." She pointed to a spot on the page. It had an exact drawing of the creature they had seen, with a little written information. "Chevielle Annemarie Snape," she read.

"Snape?" Harry and Ron exclaimed together.

"Yes, but wait. It says she's dead..." Hermione looked puzzled. "Look."

Casey read over her shoulder. "Chevielle attended Hogwarts for six years, until she disappeared during the Easter Riots at Diagon Alley while in her seventh year. She was declared legally dead by her brothers, Gregory and Severus one year after it happened." She turned to Hermione. "Do you know what the 'Easter Riots' were?" she asked.

"Yes, I do. I read about them. It was 17 years ago, I think. A group of Death Eaters attacked places all over England on Easter. More peopled disappeared then were actually killed, I think. But it says that Severus Snape is her brother... That can't be a good thing."

"How did she become a registered animagus if she was still in school?" Britt asked. "Aren't there certain restriction and stuff against that?"

Hermione shrugged.

"I'm more worried about how we saw her if she's dead." James said. "What we saw sure didn't look like a ghost."

"It would explain why the dog freaked, if it was a ghost." Casey suggested.

"Yeah, maybe the dog knew her, and knew the ghost or whatever." Ron agreed. "Which I guess wouldn't be to hard, if she had been popular in school. It must have really sucked to be killed right before you graduated."

"It would suck to be killed at all, no matter when, stupid," James told him.

"Hey, boys, this is really not the best time to be arguing, okay?" Britt asked. "Now, does any one know who that dog was?"

Harry nodded. "Sirius Black," he said simply.

"Oh, great, I was nearly attacked by an escaped convict, and then was rescued by either a ghost, or someone who had been thought to be dead for seventeen years. This is turning out to be a really fun evening," Britt said sarcastically.

Casey sighed. "I don't think he was really going to attack you, Britt. He just looked a little curious. It only growled because I shined the light in its eyes."

"It was just really weird, okay?" Britt told her. She got up and started pacing around the room. "Does any one have any ideas on what we should do about this problem?"

"Um, we could go tell Professor Dumbledore about what we you," Lilly said quietly. They had almost forgotten about her for a moment. She figured out what they saw by listening to them talk.

"I'm not sure he would believe us if we did," Casey said. "But it's a nice thought."

Britt stopped pacing, and sat down on one of the couched in the room. There were no springs under the cushions though, and it went _whoooosh_ as she sunk into the couch. The boys laughed. Britt jumped up. "It felt like I was sitting on something other that the cushion," she said thoughtfully. She pulled back the sheet that was over the couch. There was nothing under it. So she lifted up the cushion. Under it, she found a crumpled up piece of paper. She opened it up. There was writing on one side. The writing on one side looked like a poem. 

"'I heard your voice across the sky,

I heard you sing a thousand lies.

I cried your tears, I felt your pain,

I miss you know like the summer's rain,'" Britt read.

"Interesting," Harry muttered. "What's on the other side?"

Britt flipped it over. "Let's see... 'Dearest Nya, I am sorry to have to be writing this to you so late in the year and all, but I have decided to leave Britain. I had been thinking about it since this time last year, when all those people died. I know it must pain you to hear this, but I am going abroad. I have thought to wait until you graduate, but the more I think of it, the more I realize that we should spend this time apart. I guess I am saying that we should break up. I am very sorry, and I feel like a wuss, saying this is a letter. I am going to Palestine. It will be a good experience for me, because they need more wizards there. I hope to see you again some time, and remember not to cry too much. Try to think of the good times, as I know I will. Like what happened before the break. I'm so sorry, Nya. In peace and love, sincerely, Greg. Ps., talk to Janna, she can help you.'" Britt blinked. "That was interesting. Any ideas on who the hell these people are?"

"Wouldn't it be funny if the Greg who wrote the letter was Gregory Snape, who is Chevielle's other brother?" Casey said.

"You know, I think I heard your mom once call my mom 'Nya', Casey," James said thoughtfully.

"This whole thing just got a whole lot more interesting," Britt commented. 

~*~*~*~*~

{You should know what to do by know.}

RaWcK oN


End file.
